Question

Practice question #2: When the nurse starts his shift at 0700h, his client, Mrs. Nagata, has 400 mL of D5W infusing at 100 mL/h. What time should the nurse hang a new bag of D5W?

Answer 1

The nurse should hang a new bag of D5W for Mrs. Nagata at 1100h or 11:00 AM. This is because the current bag of 400 mL, infusing at 100 mL/h, will be finished in 4 hours, starting from 0700h.

Step-by-step explanation:

When the nurse starts his shift at 0700h and Mrs. Nagata has 400 mL of D5W infusing at 100 mL/h, we can calculate the time the nurse should hang a new bag of D5W by dividing the total volume by the infusion rate. Therefore, 400 mL ÷ 100 mL/h = 4 hours. The nurse started the shift at 0700h, so in 4 hours, it will be 1100h (or 11:00 AM). This is the time when the nurse should hang a new bag of D5W.

In scenarios where a physician orders an intravenous (IV) delivery of a specific medication like 100 mL of 0.5% KCl, it is not likely that the aide will find a pre-mixed bag with this exact concentration. Rather, the aide must perform a dilution calculation using a stock solution to achieve the desired concentration.